South Africa

My name is Philip Copeman. I an an atheist in South Africa. I have bene unable to find an active organised atheist group in South Afrinca, where we have similar issues to the ones that you cover. I am particularly interested in working in a group that has defined objectives and an organised structure.

Are we able to work under the umbrella of your organisation at tackle local South African issues.

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Hi Phillip. I'm Kris. I co-host the Aussie, Kiwi and South Pacific Atheists forum here. We have over 120 members of our group (mostly Australian) and over 140 Aussie members of Nexus.

We are now starting to put those numbers to good use. We have just completed a 300 page submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission, giving the atheists' perspective on "Freedom of Religion and Belief in the 21st Century".

The Commission called for papers last year, and we decided we needed to make our voice heard.

Our paper has been submitted under the name of Atheist Nexus (Australian Members).

Public submissions will be reviewed by a committee of academics and human rights experts. The end result is to be a report which will be used to guide government policy in areas such as religion, anti-discrimination exemptions, funding of religious schools, and faith-based health, welfare, counselling and charitable services. So, it was vital that we put forward our views to counter the many submissions they will receive from religious institutions and theists. Being able to submit as 'Atheist Nexus' rather than as individual members will hopefully give it greater credibility and impact.

We will also be making a submission later this year regarding a proposal to adopt a Federal Charter of Rights. This is another issue that could be hijacked by religionists, so we'll make sure to offer an alternative perspective.

Australians have 'pioneered' the use of Atheist Nexus for advancing the cause of atheism and secularism on a national level. I seem to recall that the Canadians group has also got involved in some political activism.

Just a note. A few things we were careful about:

1) Keep in close contact with Brother Richard at all times so that he knows exactly what you're doing under the name of Atheist Nexus and has the absolute right of veto.

2) Make sure that it is not just your personal opinion that is being put forward under the Atheist Nexus name. Be sure that all the members from your country are kept informed and up to date with what is being done in their name - and that they have an opportunity to comment or disagree with any opinions being advanced on their behalf.

3) Be flexible. Be prepared to accommodate conflicting views, or at least acknowledge that 'not all atheists agree with this view'.

If you would like a copy of the Submission we sent to the Australian Human Rights Commission, just send an email to atheistnexus.australia@gmail.com and I will send you the document as an attachment. The Introduction to the Submission has been posted here on Nexus as a blog.

My co-'conspirators' the Irreverent Mr Black and funk q, who host the Australian forum and helped in producing the submission, and I would be happy to keep in touch and add our 2c worth regarding any plans you might have to follow our lead.

I know this is an old thread, if you thought finding an atheist in south africa was tough, try finding a black south african atheist, i generally socialise and associate with black south africans, and so far i have not met one atheist, slowly i'm getting a break through into knocking some sense onto some of my close associates. I have joined this forum today mainly for support. thank you

Themba is a black name right? Are you telling me that I have met my first Black South African Athiest? If so, this is the end of a 40 year search for me. If we can get one, we can get 40 million.

I have been a member of the PAC for 20 years and one of the things that really pisses me off, is opening every meeting with a prayer. As if God actually cared about Africa. Nkosi Sikelele. We are going to have to start with the National Anthem...